STS-42

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mission emblem
Mission emblem STS-42
Mission dates
Mission: STS-42
COSPAR-ID : 1992-002A
Crew: 7th
Begin: January 22, 1992, 14:52:33  UTC
Starting place: Kennedy Space Center , LC-39A
Landing: January 30, 1992, 16:07:17 UTC
Landing place: Edwards Air Force Base , Runway 22
Flight duration: 8d 1h 14m 44s
Earth orbits: 129
Rotation time : 90.5 min
Orbit inclination : 56.9 °
Apogee : 305 km
Perigee : 293 km
Covered track: 4.6 million km
Payload: Spacelab
Team photo
v. l. No. Stephen Oswald, Roberta Bondar, Norman Thagard, Ronald Grabe, David Hilmers, Ulf Merbold, William Readdy
v. l. No. Stephen Oswald, Roberta Bondar, Norman Thagard, Ronald Grabe, David Hilmers, Ulf Merbold, William Readdy
◄ Before / After ►
STS-44 STS-45

STS-42 ( english S pace T ransportation S ystem) is a mission designation for the US Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) of NASA . The launch took place on January 22, 1992. It was the 45th space shuttle mission and the 14th flight of the space shuttle Discovery.

team

Main team

Originally, Mary Cleave provided as a mission specialist. Since she left NASA for personal reasons, she was replaced by Sonny Carter in January 1990 . Carter was killed in a plane crash in April 1991. David Hilmers took over his duties.

replacement

Mission overview

The STS-42 mission began with a problem-free start on January 22, 1992. The microgravity laboratory-1 (IML-1) was located in the space shuttle's payload bay . This Spacelab- based module contained experiments to explore the complex effects of weightlessness on living organisms and other materials. In order to be able to carry out experiments around the clock, the crew worked in shifts. Grabe, Oswald, Thagard and Bondar made up the blue team, while Hilmers, Readdy and Merbold made up the red team.

In order to achieve the lowest possible disturbance of weightlessness through orbit maneuvers, a gravitational stabilized position, with the tail towards the earth, was adopted for the majority of the flight duration. The advantages of microgravity should be investigated in 13 material science and 29 biological experiments.

The material experiments mainly dealt with the cultivation of large and pure crystals ( protein crystals , crystallization of salt solutions to investigate emerging anomalies and cracks, vapor crystallization of mercury iodide, cultivation of organic crystals as possible superconductors). Biomedical examinations were partly carried out under microgravity and in four small centrifuges that simulated different gravitational forces. However, the 480 fruit flies died within three days due to toxic contamination in the food. The experiments with bacteria, crab eggs and lentil seedlings were more successful. Further investigations concerned space traveler's disease (vestibular sledges), the loss of effectiveness of antibiotics , plant growth and sensitivity to light, and the effects of cosmic radiation on living organisms. Automatic investigations in 10 GAS containers (Get Away Special), IMAX recordings for the film "Adventure Space Travel" and several experiments in the middle deck of the shuttle completed the research program.

Technical problems led to the flight being extended by one day in order to fulfill the work plan as much as possible. Therefore, the landing took place on January 30th at Edwards Air Force Base. Two weeks later the Discovery was flown back to KSC.

See also

Web links

Commons : STS-42  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NASA News Release 90-001 of January 2, 1990
  2. ↑ NASA News Release 90-009 of January 25, 1990
  3. ↑ NASA News Release 91-032 of April 19, 1991